SweetCherry Sweetness
by L-chan the Great
Summary: An unlikely encounter between Jubileena Bingbing and a wicked programmed clown shakes up both their worlds, and broadens Jubileena's scope beyond the games of the arcade. A one-shot, but if there's enough interest, then I might write more. Cover image by the talented Tumblr user lovelycherrylover, and if she doesn't want me to use it anymore I'll delete it!


**So while I've been down from the internet, I've done quite a bit of writing, and so this little one-shot happened. It's based off of the relationship between the muses of the Tumblr users lovelycherrylover (Jubileena) and ask-small-brawl-sweet-tooth. Both of their are great roleplayers and I really love following them! Also I don't know anything about Small Brawl at all, except there are apparently multiple games, and that Sweet Tooth (Needles Kane actually) is a serial killer who dresses up as a clown.**

**And so I was thinking about how it might have happened, and so I made this! For the two Tumblr users who made me ship SweetCherry. This isn't really good, but I kinda like it. I might have gotten some things wrong with Sweet Tooth's description, I'm sorry!**

* * *

"Racers get ready!"

Jubileena Bingbing waved to the audience filled with cheering candy NPCs as the announcer's voice boomed over the race track. She hopped into her cherry-themed go-kart, sitting in last place since she had gotten the least points in the last race of the arcade's day. It didn't bother her much—winning wasn't too important, it was competing and having fun with all her friends.

At the front Vanellope was jumping around and pumping herself up. In second place Taffyta briefly looked envious but then shook her head and wiped it off her face. It reminded Jubileena about how horrible she, Taffyta, and the others had been to Vanellope when she was just a glitch to them, even destroying her homemade kart. She flinched at the memory. Never again would she be so mean to someone she resolved.

"Three…!"

Vanellope hopped into her kart, starting it.

"Two…!"

The other racers began to rev their own karts.

"One…!"

Jubileena readied herself for the race.

"GO!"

With a screeching of cookie tires everyone took off. Jubileena held tightly to her wheel as she urged her kart forward. Up ahead she could see Taffyta and Vanellope neck and neck for first, until Vanellope glitched slightly forward and secured first. Even from back in last place, Jubileena could hear the cry of dismay from her taffy-loving friend. Knowing Taffyta, she would race even harder to beat their president.

As they neared the cake mountain, Jubileena got a power-up. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a cookie mallet, her least favorite power-up of Sugar Rush. For one, it required her to get close to others, and then for her to actually swing it. For another, it was heavy and difficult to control her kart at the same time as swinging it. It was her first power-up too. She supposed she wouldn't be using any power-ups this race.

A faint sound of maniacal laughter reached Jubileena's ears. She frowned. Nobody should be behind her, so it must be her imagination. Yet the laughter got louder as if someone were quickly approaching her. Jubileena hazarded a glance back in time to see an ice cream truck with spikes on its wheels and a huge ice cream sculpture on top barreling toward her.

She yelped, jerking her wheel to the side to swerve out of the way as it zoomed past her. The driver was a boy with his hair on fire and clown makeup on his face. His eyes had a crazed look that shocked her.

The ice cream truck continued forward, pushing racers off track. It finally reached Vanellope, making her spin out.

"Holy licorice!" Vanellope screamed as she caused a pileup.

"Who the frosting is that, Vanellope?" Taffyta asked her as she pulled her kart to a stop beside their president.

Vanellope glared at the ice cream truck still going up the cake mountain. "No idea, but we got to get him off the track. I ain't gonna let some turbo-minded stinkbrain mess with _our_ game! Come on, Taffyta, Jubee, let's go!"

Jubileena jumped in her kart. "Me, president?" she asked, shocked.

"Yeah of course, you and Taffyta are the only ones with power-ups! You aren't going to let this new Turbo ruin our game, are you Jubee?"

A shiver went down Jubileena's spine remembering King Candy, the man who nearly ended up destroying their game and killing Vanellope. She shook her head hard. "No way! I'll do my best, president Vanellope!"

The racers meant business. Ever since the incident with Turbo and King Candy, they had been ready for another incident like it. Just like Jubileena resolved to never be mean to someone again, everyone in Sugar Rush promised themselves to never let another Turbo butt into their game and ruin it.

Taffyta, Vanellope, and Jubileena lined up in a row, with the other racers behind, urging their karts forward. But by now the ice cream truck was far ahead, reaching the top of the mountain.

Vanellope gritted her teeth. "Use your power-up and slow him down, Taffyta!" she yelled over the sound of the engines.

"I can't shoot it around the curves!" Taffyta shouted back.

"Cupcakes!" Vanellope screamed in frustration. "Grab my hands, girls!"

They were nearly driven off the road when Vanellope thrust her hands out to them, taking them off the wheel and just barely managing to steer with her knees. Taffyta and Jubileena each took a hand and they felt the strange sensation of glitching.

With the help of Vanellope's special power, they glitched forward, closer and closer to the intruder. Just when Jubileena thought she was going to be sick from the feeling of being glitched, Vanellope stopped and returned her hands to the wheel. They were now within distance of the ice cream truck.

"Now Taffyta!"

"I'm on it!" A canon appeared on the back of Taffyta's kart. It shot out a wad of bubble gum, which landed directly in front of the ice cream truck. The intruder's wheels stuck, slowing down dramatically.

"Sweet!" Vanellope cheered. "Ok, it's your turn Jubileena! Knock him off the mountain!"

She felt a thrill of fear followed by a sudden adrenaline rush. Her turn. They were all depending on her. She nodded. "Got it, president!"

The other two slowed down to give Jubileena room as she urged her kart forward. She got ready to use her power-up as she got closer.

Suddenly the driver of the ice cream truck spun around so it was facing him. The sight of the crazy look paired with the clown makeup made Jubileena's foot itch to hit the break. Then the ice cream sculpture on top shot something at her.

She screamed and swerved out of the way as the projectile hit the road with an explosion. "Careful, Jubee!" both Vanellope and Taffyta yelled to her from behind. The clown driver cackled and began to press buttons, no doubt to launch another attack. It was now or never.

Jubileena used her power-up; a chocolate-chip cookie mallet materialized in her hand. The extra weight made her grunt. She swung at the ice cream truck—missed. Her kart swerved side to side dangerously. She gripped the wheel hard with one hand, getting closer to the truck, and swung again. This time she hit, sending the truck and clown driver over the edge of the cake mountain.

Everyone's cheers turned to screams as Jubileena went over as well.

She screamed as she shot down the side of the mountain, frosting all around her. Holding tight to the wheel for dear life, she plummeted down the mountain.

When she hit the ground, she was thrown from her kart, skipping along the ground. She lay where she finally stopped for a while, groaning and feeling bruised all over her small body. The sound of another groaning got her attention. Gingerly, she sat up to see the clown driver lying on the ground, having been thrown from his vehicle as well.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she cautiously crawled forward to get a better look at the boy. A pile of frosting rested on his head and some of his makeup was smeared away, revealing pale and soft skin underneath. Up close and immobile, the boy didn't look so scary as he had before.

She brushed away some of the frosting. His flaming hair was gone and she gasped. It had been actual fire! His hair _was_ fire, not _on fire_. And the frosting had put it out.

The boy's eyes slowing opened, and she found herself looking into the bluest, most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. It made her heart stop.

He jumped up in alarm, moving away quickly. He ran a hand over his hair, then realized his hair had been put out. Seconds later, it was on fire again. When he put pressure on his right arm as he backed away, she saw that he hissed in pain.

"Woah, woah, it's fine! I'm not going to hurt you!" Jubileena told him, standing up and walking closer to the boy crawling away from her on the ground. She held a hand out to him. "You're hurt right? Come to my house and I'll wrap your arm up."

He eyed her proffered hand suspiciously before finally taking it with his good arm. She pulled him to his feet. When she released his hand, he held his injured arm with it.

"Come on, my house is this way," she said as she led the way. Later on, she knew that she would have a lot of explaining to do with the other racers for disappearing. But for now she would be hospitable to this new driver boy, and maybe find out why he was in Sugar Rush.

"Why are you being nice to me after I barged into your game like this?" he demanded, still sounding suspicious of her.

Jubileena cast him a gentle smile. "It's really a long story. The short version is that I decided to be as nice as I can to everyone," she told him. When he remained silent, she added, "My name is Jubileena Bingbing. You can call me Jubee if you'd like; all my friends do. What's your name?"

He was silent for a while longer, and for a minute she thought that the boy wasn't going to answer at all. Finally he did though, so quietly that Jubileena almost missed it. "Sweet Tooth," he told her.

She smiled at him brightly. "Nice to meet you Sweet Tooth!"

After a while, they arrived at Jubileena's house. Her mother was busy at the bakery, so she had the house to herself. She took his hand and led him into the bathroom where her first aid kit was. While she did, she refused to look at him as she blushed at the feeling of the boy's hand in hers. He remained silent, going along with her.

She pulled out the first aid kit and the bandages inside. "Here, give me your arm," she told him, turning to face him.

He offered his left arm to her. She giggled. "No, silly, I mean your hurt arm!" she said.

The boy cracked a half-smile at her as he held out his right arm. "I am a clown after all," he told her.

Jubileena began to wrap up his arm. "So are you an NPC or something from a new arcade game and you help out at children's parties?" she asked.

There was a moment of silence. "No, I'm a playable character," he told her finally. "And no, I didn't help at children's parties."

"What did you do? Why do you wear clown makeup then?"

Silence.

"Sweet Tooth?"

He looked away from her. "My code is a little… dark. You don't want to be friends with someone with code like mine," he said.

She finished up wrapping his arm. "Oh, I know many villains with dark programming. They're pretty great people. I'm sure you could be too." She flashed him a bright smile.

He didn't return it, instead looking like he was mulling over her words.

"There! All finished!" Jubileena announced cheerfully.

Sweet Tooth withdrew his arm, looking over the bandage. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"It's no problem at all!" She hopped up to sit on the counter and patted the spot next to her. "So why'd you come into Sugar Rush?"

He leaned against the wall instead of taking a seat beside her, crossing his arms. "Well, you could say that I'm bored with my game. So I spend my down time in other games," he told her, looking around the small room, looking at everything but her.

She smiled, a little bemused. There was no way she could ever be bored in Sugar Rush, not with all the friends she had, so she just couldn't imagine how Sweet Tooth could feel that way. "Why are you bored with your game?" she asked.

Now he did look at her, but for a long time he said nothing. After a long uncomfortable silence he looked away again and shook his head.

Jubileena nodded understandingly, even though she actually didn't understand. "I see, it's a secret then," she said.

She could have sworn that he let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, a secret."

Before Jubileena could ask anything else, Sweet Tooth began to glow with a bright white light. Both of them jumped, mostly Jubileena, never having seen anything like it before. "Wh—what is that?"

Sweet Tooth pushed off the wall and began to run. "Game alert. Someone is going to play my game," he told her as he took off.

She leapt off the counter and ran after him. "How? The arcade is closed?"

He made for the game station terminal. "I'm not an arcade game," he replied.

Jubileena was speechless. How was it possible that he wasn't in the arcade? There was just no way for someone from a completely different place to reach another arcade.

They reached the station before she could finally get over her surprise and question him again. "But how? Where are you from?" she asked as they dodged around other characters, Sweet Tooth pushing back some.

He stopped abruptly in front of the screen where Sonic was yet again warning against the dangers of dying outside one's game. Jubileena bumped right into his back. She blushed as he turned around to face her.

"That'll be something to talk about another time… Jubileena."

Sweet Tooth jumped backward, right into the screen. She gasped as he vanished into it. There was no trace of him at all. Even with running her hands over the screen, she couldn't figure out how he had gone into it at all.

For a long time she stood there, gazing at the screen, not even seeing the recording of Sonic repeat his warning again and again. All she could see was Sweet Tooth. She blushed as she thought about him.

"Sweet Tooth, will you be back?" she asked herself out loud.

After his game had been turned off again, he continued to wander. He was in an unusually foul mood—a perfect mood for Grand Theft Auto IV. Ignoring the NPCs of his own game, Small Brawl, he was off again in cyber space, materializing in the game he wanted. That was the beauty of being a console game character—the entire world of gaming was his to explore, which helped with his boredom.

He was reminded sharply of Jubileena. The thought of her made him simultaneously blush and cringe. How could anyone be so nice to a character like him? One who had barged into their game and ruined their race? He looked down at his bandaged arm.

Shaking his head vigorously, trying to put her out of his mind, he jumped into the nearest car he could find. Driving around, shooting up NPCs and crashing into things couldn't help him not think of Jubileena. What was wrong with him? It wasn't like he had even told her his real name. Sweet Tooth—that was the name of his _ice cream truck_. So many people mixed it up that it might as well be his name though.

"Stop it! She would never like someone like you!" he scolded himself. He knew that he was falling for her, for this girl that he had just barely met. "If she knew who I really was… Why I'm bored of my game…"

He was a serial killer, a mass murdering psychopath who dressed as a clown for the ironic effect. If he existed in the real world, he would be the reason why people had a phobia of clowns. He left his game because he was bored of _killing_ the characters in his own game. He sought the thrill of killing new people. If she knew that, there was no way she would even want to be near him.

"_Oh, I know many villains with dark programming. They're pretty great people. I'm sure you could be too."_

He blushed at the remembrance and crashed the car he was driving into a fire hydrant. He just sat there, thinking about Jubileena. Just the thought of that sweet cherry-girl sent a rush of adrenaline through him that he hadn't felt for a long time. It was something that he hadn't even felt when he killed someone.

But there was no way he could actually go and see her again. He had dark coding, he was a bad guy. A villain, no doubt about it. Definitely not one who could be a great person. He had no desire to be anything but a killer though.

_Maybe for Jubileena though…_

Sweet Tooth shook his head as the thought came unbidden to his mind. Thinking like that was no good. There was no way he could be in any kind of relationship with anyone, let alone such a sweet girl from the arcade.

Police sirens broke him from his thoughts. Time to move—after all, if he died outside of his game then he was dead for good. He kicked the ruined car door open and hopped out just as the first police car smashed into the back of it. AI wasn't really top notch in this game. The police car was a little beat up, but not about to explode any time soon. As the cops climbed out and began to shoot at him, he jogged right up and replaced the cop in the driver's seat. Then he was gone, running over both cops in the process.

That seemed to be enough playing for the day. He might as well go back to his own game now. Grand Theft Auto was beginning to lose its thrill, and Sweet Tooth found his mind wandering to Jubileena much more often as time wore on.

He sighed, transporting himself to his own game. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he really wanted to see that cherry girl again. It wouldn't do to keep getting distracted with thoughts of her by forcing himself to stay away.

"Come on, Jubee! Tell us what you were doing all disappeared like that for so long. We had to finish the race without you!"

Jubileena waved off the questions, lightly blushing at the memory of her short time with Sweet Tooth. "I already told you Taffyta, he was hurt so I helped him out and then he went away to his own game," she said.

Taffyta huffed, hands on her hips. "Oh come on, Jubee, you were gone for_ever_. What game is he from anyway? We can go see him then and ask why he had to come in all Turbo and mess up our race," she insisted.

"I told you, I don't know." Jubileena thought back to the way the boy had dived right through the electronic sign, out of the arcade. "I don't think he's from around here though."

Vanellope, standing next to Taffyta, rolled her eyes. "Well of _course_ he's not fudging from around here. Did he look like a Sugar Rush racer to you? But what _game_, Jubee?"

The light-hearted remark from the game's president brought a light blush of embarrassment to Jubileena's cheeks. "No, no, I mean I don't think he's from the arcade!"

Both of the other girls stared, blinking at Jubileena with confused looks on their faces. "Well, that's just impossible," Taffyta said. "How can someone come from a completely different place?"

"Yeah, it's impossible. Have the brownie fumes finally gone to your head, girl?" Vanellope affirmed.

Jubileena sighed and turned around, crossing her arms. "I know it's _supposed_ to be impossible…" She looked up into the sky, filled with fluffy pink cotton candy clouds. "But it's just… I don't know…"

"Maybe you should go home and rest a bit, Jubee. You fell off of the top of the cake mountain only yesterday, it's probably messing with your head still," Taffyta told her, placing a reassuring hand on the cherry girl's shoulder.

She turned her head to smile gently at her friend. "Yeah, thanks Taffy," she told her.

Vanellope threw her arm across her shoulders with a huge grin on her face. "Try laying off the Pixie Sticks too," she added.

That made Jubileena snort with laughter. "Oh thanks Vany," she said, rolling her eyes.

The president gently punched Jubileena's arm. "Got you to laugh though."

Jubileena gently shook their hands off of her and began walking in the direction of her home. "Thanks you too. See you tomorrow morning as always," she called over her shoulder.

Taffyta and Vanellope waved back at her. "See you, Jubee!"

As she walked the short way to her home, Jubileena thought back on the events from yesterday. Maybe she really had imagined Sweet Tooth going through the sign. She did have a pretty scary experience falling off the side of a mountain just before he did that, after all. It was probably that he had disappeared into the crowd of characters and she just lost him at the sign. There were a lot of characters there at the time, after all.

But what game was he from then? Jubileena tried to run through all the arcade games in her head, but Sweet Tooth just didn't fit any of them. She sighed. When she saw him again, she would have to get him to tell her where exactly he was from.

_If _she ever saw him again.

Jubileena felt an odd pang in her chest at the thought of never seeing Sweet Tooth again. She placed her hand over her heart, her eyes cast downward. What was wrong with her, feeling this way of a videogame character she had just barely met? She hardly knew anything about him, just his name and that his hair was fire.

Remembering him with a bald head after the frosting had put his hair out made Jubileena giggle.

She arrived home without any incident, although she found herself wishing for him to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Her mom was still at the bakery, as she always was for a while after the arcade closed, and so Jubileena was not particularly looking forward to another afternoon alone until her mother came home. She sighed, resigning herself to another day alone, and entered her house.

As she walked into the living room and kitchen, out of her peripheral she could see a dark shape at the counter. She jumped with a scream, backing away as she spun around to the intruder, her heart pounding in fright.

"Hey, hey, don't freak out like that. I was only waiting for you to come home." It was Sweet Tooth, waving his hands in front of him to show her that he meant no harm.

Jubileena leaned against the wall with a huge sigh of relief, both of her hands over her still-racing heart. "Sweet Tooth, what are you doing here?" she asked, breathless but at the same time not altogether regretful to see him.

Sweet Tooth put his hands in his pockets and shrugged, looking down at his feet. Was that a blush underneath all that makeup?

"Bored I guess. And wanted to see you again, if that's alright," he answered.

She walked over to him with a smile. "Of course it's alright! I was hoping to see you again too! Just… Don't come into my house like that until someone lets you in next time," she said with a little laugh.

He nodded. "Sorry, I'll wait outside next time," he said.

Jubileena went over to the fridge. "Do you want something to drink? Maybe I should bake something for us to eat?" she asked him as she looked through the fridge.

There was no answer. She pulled her head out of the fridge to look at him. Sweet Tooth was gazing at her, an almost vacant expression on his face, but he was definitely looking at her. "Sweet Tooth?" she asked, a little louder.

He snapped out of whatever trance he'd been in, shaking his head. "Yeah?"

"Do you want a drink? Or should I bake something for us?" she repeated.

She saw his eyes wander over her, taking in her appearance. "Sure, whatever you want," he replied.

That didn't really answer her question, but it did give her an excuse to show off her baking skills. She began to prepare batter for a cake. "Are you alright today, Sweet Tooth? Did you catch a virus of some kind?" she asked. Today he was acting a little strange—at least, strange compared to the brief time she'd known him yesterday.

He gave her a questioning look. "No, I'm alright," he said.

She nodded, not quiet believing him. "Ok, just asking. What game are you from?" she asked.

"Small Brawl."

Jubileena thought over the title for a long while as she mixed the ingredients. It just wasn't ringing any bells however. Although she hadn't spent much time outside of Sugar Rush since they had been plugged in, so that could be the reason why the title wasn't familiar. "What area of the arcade is that in?"

Sweet Tooth shook his head. "No, it's not an arcade game at all, like I said yesterday," he told her.

"I knew it!" she shouted, jumping up and nearly flinging her mixing spoon from her hand. As it was, she splattered unfinished cake batter on the wall. She was just excited that she wasn't going bonkers after all. This time it was Taffyta and Vanellope who were wrong, not her.

In the middle of her triumph, she noticed that Sweet Tooth was now looking at her with some alarm. She giggled sheepishly, returning to her mixing. "Sorry about that. It's just my friends _insisted_ that there was no way that you weren't from the arcade."

Sweet Tooth nodded. "I bet it's hard to believe, being in an arcade game the whole time." He shrugged. "I'm a console game. I can go into any game I'd like, and never have to worry about being unplugged." He paused briefly, thinking. "Though I'd probably have to worry about it if this game was unplugged and I was in here."

Jubileena tried to imagine it, never having to worry about her game's entertainment value expiring and then losing her home. She poured the batter into a cake pan and slid it into the oven. "It must be nice," she said.

He shrugged. "Well, I also am on call for gaming all the time. The first kid to play my game was on all hours of the day, and I didn't even have the _time_ to be bored with my world. But I'm a used game, and the kid playing my game right now hardly plays at all. So I have a lot of time on my hands."

Jubileena jumped up to sit on the counter next to where he was standing. "After the arcade closes, I have a lot of free time on my hands too." She fiddled her thumbs, looking down with a blush. "Maybe you can spend it with me if you want."

"I'd love to," he answered immediately, surprising Jubileena. She looked up at him quickly just as he looked away. He had a definitely blush underneath his clown makeup this time.

She gazed at him for a long time. A couple times he glanced at her to quickly look away again when their eyes met. Finally, he forced himself to look at her. "What is it, Jubileena?" he asked.

When he said her name, it sent shivers down her spine. They were good shivers, though. It made her inexplicably happy to hear her name said by Sweet Tooth's voice. "I think I have feelings for you. Very strong feelings. I think I want to date you," she said.

Jubileena realized what she just said and covered her face with her hands. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" How could she say something so embarrassing to someone that she just met?

"It's fine." He took her hands and gently peeled them away from her face. "I have strong feelings for you too. I want to date you, Jubee." She saw his blush deepen when he used her nickname; Jubileena could feel her own face heat up.

She held his hands tightly. "I'm really happy," she said.

Sweet Tooth nodded, with a small smile. "So am I."


End file.
